elkington



Sept. 4, 1928. 1,683,028

, v. ELKINGTON APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING A CURRENT OF HEATED AIR OR GASFiled Nov. 7, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 VIA/112,921 51k:

Sept. 4, 1928.

1,683,028 v. ELKINGTON APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING A CURRENT OF HEATED AIROR GAS Tim \5 2 SheetsSheet 2 Filed Nov. 7, 1927 rwvenfarc- PatentedSept. 4, 1.928.

UNITED STATES 1,683,028 PATENT OFFICE.

VIVIAN ELKINGTON, OF ST. MARGARETS BAY, ENG-LAND.

APPARATUSFOR SUPPLYING A CURRENT OF HEATED AIR OR GAS.

Application filed November 7. 1927, Serial No. 231,740, and in GreatBritain November 11, 1926.

This invention relates to apparatus for producing a rapid current ofheated air, a suitable gas being included in this expression.

The apparatus is of the kind which utilizes for the purpose mentioned anair-heating passage converging in the direction of flow of the air, theapparatus constructed in accordance with the invention being primarilycharacterized by the use of a metal wall, heated by an adjacent enclosedheating source having an outlet for products of combustion, and anair-passage, diminishing in area throughout its length, formed by asecond wall converging towards the heated wall along the whole of itslength in the direction of the outlet, the air to be heated entering thewider end of the air-passage.

Apart from the advantage of the rapid currentof heated air thus obtainedin the manner referred to above, it will be seen hereinafter that theinvention also permits of the construction of a heating apparatus thatwill be easy to make and assemble and light and cheap in comparison Withthe usual air-heating apparatus.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood, a furnaceconstructed to carry the same into practice will now be described withreference to the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a perspectiveView, partly broken away, of the complete furnace,

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view thereof' Fig. 3 is a horizontalsectional view of a detail, while Fig. 4 is a fragmentary verticalsection of a modified detail.

In the arrangement illustrated in Fig. 1 (which has experimentally givensatisfactory results) the air to be heated is allowed free access to thespaces 10 between two pairs of converging walls 11 and 12 forming,together with a grate or hearth designated generally 18 for the burningof solid fuel, a furnace in which the air to be heated is kept out ofcontact with the products of combustion.

The two inner walls 11 of the two pairs referred to are of f inch metaland are gilled at 14 and corrugated at 15 to provide a large area orsurface for heat reception and heat transference. They are connectedtogether at the ends by end-plates 16 and at the top by a suitablesealing-device, designated generally 17 to be hereinafter described, soas to pre vent undesirable escape of the products of? combustion fromthe hearth or equivalent, which is placed between the said two walls.Outlet pipes or fines 18 are provided to lead the said products awayfrom the top of the furnace. The end-plates 16 connecting the two innerwalls 11 are extended laterally at 19 to support the two outer walls 12,which may be of any desired material and thickness but are preferably,as shown, of sheet-metal for lightness and chcapness. The end-plates areprovided with integral flanges 20 to position the walls 11 correctly andare either grooved or provided with an equivalent arrangement (notshown) whereby the outer'walls 12 may be readily placed in position. Forexample, the said walls might be received in the space between two pairsof projectons on the end plates or might be slotted or perforated toengage projections or screws thereon. The two walls 11 and 12 of eachpair slope towards one another as indicated in Fig. 2 and the in nerwalls also converge in the upward direction. The rapid current of airproduced by the furnace absorbs the heat of the furnace extremelyquickly, with the result that the inner walls, in spite of theircomparative thinness, remain at temperatures having no materiallydisadvantageous effect on them, while the products of combustion arecooled down considerably before reaching the top of the furnace. Thus,there is no need to provide room for the expansion of the said productsand the outlets therefor may be made of thin and inexpensive metal.Moreover, the decreasing section ofthe furnace in the upward directioncauses a more intimate contact of the uprising combustion gases with theinner walls then would be the case with a parallelwall arrangement. Thegreater the slope of the said inner walls the easier is the flow of air,while due to the relative positions of the walls the said air is causedto impinge on the heated inner walls instead of passing directlyupwards.

The inner walls 11 are made from interengaging cast sections 11 (Fig. 3)andare held together by bolts 21 secured to the end-plates 16. Thesebolts are advantageously arranged outside the inner walls, i. e. awayfrom the heat of the source of combustion, the said walls being curvedat 22 to allow this (Fig. 2).

The structure formed by the two pairs of walls .11 and 12. end-plates 16and sealingmember 17 is placed on a cast support 23, which also acts asan ash-pan, so as to be capable of free woven-amt during expansion andcontraction. The firebars 24 of the grate or hearth 13 are carried inslots in the end-plates 16, which are provided with suit able chargingdoors 25. In order to allow for easy removal of ash and clinker from thefire-bars of thcgrate or hearth without the disadvantage of theadmission of an excess of air to the fire, and also,.in somecircumstances, without allowing the fumes from the ash and clinker tocontactwith the air to be heateththe said fire-bars are arranged in twogroups sothat two separate grates or hearths are thereby formed, and aresupported on rollers 26 journalled in a cast bracket 27 supported inthe'centre of the ash-pan 23, thetwogroups normally contacting but beingmovable independently from he outside by handles 28 to'allow the rakingof the ash from theba-rs into the space thus left below and atthe innerends of the two groups and thus into as-uitable slidable receptacle A.damper or division plate 30 is arra'ngedba tween the said receptacle andtheash-pan 23, the said receptacle being. carried on flanges 3-1 on thebottom of the bracket 27. t will be seen that by these arrangements theair t be heated does not become contaniii'iated with con'ibustionproducts from the furnace. This is of importance when the heatedair isto be used for, say, drying, such as in the drying of hops or malt.Bafiles or sidebars 32 prevent escape of air from the ash-pit withoutpassing through the fire-bars, these baffies being. carried byprojections 33 on the end-plates 16.

To ensurea uniform supply of air to the hearth or, grate, or to thetwosections there of if a divided-grate be used, the lower ends of thewalls 11 are perforated or slotted along their length at 34, these slotsbeing controlled by a similarly perforated or slotted shuttercontrol-member 35 slidable in slots in the end-walls 16 (F l and 2).

With one or two outlet-pipes 18 (as will usually be provided) for theproducts of COII1' bustion at the ends of the furnace there is a.riskithat the majority of the said products will tend to flow straightout through the same instead of passing upwardly in inti- Inatecontactwith the gille'd portions of the inner walls 11 of the furnace asis desirable,-

audito guard against this the top of the fun nace is adapted to receivea division or bar fie plate 36. arranged to cause thedesired effect,thisplate conveniently being adapted to rest on the inner gills 14; on thewalls 11, as shown;

The spaces 10 between the two pairs of walls hereinhe'for'e referred toare open at topand bottom but the inner or heating walls 11 areconnected together at the top as previously mentioned.- The connectionand necessary sealing at this point are effected by a sand-sealconstructed by forming the inneu walls wlth flanges 37 on which test aseries of inter-engaging: cast plates 38 on which sand is laid as at 39(Fig. 2) to prevent leakage of combustion products through the abuttingfaces of the flanges 37 and plates 38, as will be readily understood.The plates 38 are prc'lferably provided with heat-radiating ribs 39*,extending; vertically upwards (Fig.- l) and, if desired, oownwarcls also(Fig. 2). p y

The outlet pipes 18 are preferably provided with dampers or likecontrolling devices so as to provide a second control for the flow ofthe combustion air and combustion products.

Turning now to the modification shown in Fig. l, the cast ash-panconstruction previously described is here replaced by a built-'- upstructure constituted by two channel-iron members 40 connected at thebottom by a plate ll bolted thereto, and at the ends by suitableclosures (not shown). On the top flanges of these channels rest therenting walls 11 as in the previous construction, these walls beingcorrectlypositioned by check plates In this construction, as in thatpreviously described, the ash pan itself, in stead of the walls 11, maybe perforated or slotted (as indicated at d3) to form the air inletshereinb'el'ore designated Thishas the advantage of allowing the gills lt to be extended a much greater distance down the walls 11.

Instead of the air inlets being controlled by a slid'able shutter, theyare inthe present instance controlled by damper-like members a l pivotedto the channels 40 at 45.

Other detail modifications will be readily apparent to those skilled inthe art.

-ll' hat I claim is.'--

l. A. furnace for producing a rapid current of heated air, comprising apair of end plates, two pairs of walls extending; between the said endplates and com-istiti'itcd by a pair of inner inetal heating wallsconverging inardly and upwardly towards one another throughout theirentire length, and pair e'l" outer walls converging inwardly and upwardly towards the respective inner heating; walls to forin open airpassages din'iinishiiug in area from their lower to their upper ends andinto the wider lower ends of which air to be heated enters, a heatingsoii'rc'e confined between the end plates and the said inner walls, andan outlet at tl1e' top of the furnace for the products of combustion.

2. A furnace for producing a rapid current of heated air, comprising apair of end plates, two pairs of walls entel'iding between the said endplates and eon-stitutedby a pair of inner inetal heating walls havingills on both surfaces and converginginwardly and upwardly towards oneanother through outtheir entire length, and a pair 0r outer wallscoi'iverging inwardly a1" upwardly towz'i'rds the respective innerheating walls to :lorm open air passages diminishing in area from theirlower to their upper ends, into the lower endsof which passages air tobe heated enters, a heating source confined between the end plates andthe said inner walls, and an outlet at the top of the furnace for theproducts of combustion.

3. A furnace for producing a rapid current of heated air, comprising apair of end plates, two pairs of walls extending between the said endplates and constituted by a pair of inner metal heating walls havinggills on both surfaces and converging inwardly and upwardly towards oneanother throughout their entire length, and a pair of outer wallsconverging inwardly and up ardly towards the respective inner heatingwalls to form open air passages diminishing in area from their lower totheir upper ends, into the lower ends of which passages air to be heatedenters. a horizontal battle plate resting upon the gills on the innersurfaces of the inner heating walls adjacent the upper ends there-- of,a heating source confined between the end plates and the said innerwalls, and an outlet at the top of the furnace for the products ofcombustion.

l. A furnace for producing a rapid current of heated air, comprising apair of end plates, two pairs of walls extending between the said endplates and constituted by inner metal heating walls converging inwardlyand upwardly towards one another throughout their entire length, and apair of outer walls converging inwardly and upwardly towards therespective inner heating walls to form open air passages diminishing inarea from their lower to t eir upper ends, into the lower ends of whichair to be heated enters, a plate fitted loosely between the upper endsof the inner heating walls and having a sand seal to close the top ofthe furnace, a heating source confined between the end plates and thesaid inner walls, and an outlet at the top of the furnace for theproducts of combustion. 5. A furnace for producing a rapid current ofheated air, comprising in combination a hearth, a base member, a pair ofinner metal heating walls converging in *ardly and upwardly towards oneanother throughout their entire length and supported on the base memher,said walls enclosing the said hearth at their lower ends, a pair of endplates con nected to the said inner Walls, outlets at the top of saidend plates for the products of combustion from the hearth, and a pair ofouter walls converging inwardly and upwardly towards the respectiveinner heating walls to form open air passages diminishing in crosssection from their lower to their upper ends, into the wider lower endsof which passages cold air to be heated enters.

6. A furnace for the production of a rapid currentof heated aircomprising a base memher, a pair of end plates mounted upon the saidbase member, a pair of inner metal heatin g walls converging inwardlyand upwardly towards one another throughout their entire length, a pairof hearths disposed between the lower ends of the said inner walls and.extending from the respective end plates to the centre of the furnace,the said hearths being reciprocable longitudinally, a central ash pancommunicating with a remo able ash receptacle, outlets in the upper endsof the said end plates for the products of combustion from the hearths,and a pair of outer walls extending between the said end plates andconverging inwardly and upwardly towards the inner heating walls to formair passages diminishing in cross section from their lower to theirupper ends, into the wider lower ends of which passages air to be heatedenters.

7. A furnace for the production of a rapid current of heated aircomprising a base member, a pair of end plates mounted upon the saidbase member, a pair of inner metal heating walls having gills on bothfaces and converging inwardly and upwardly towards one anotherthroughout their entire length, a pair of hearths disposed between thelower ends of the said inner walls and extending from the respective endplates to the centre of the furnace, the said hearths beingreciprocatable longitudinally, a central ash pan communicating with aremovable ash receptacle, a baille plate resting upon the gills on theinner faces of the said inner walls adjacent the upper ends thereof, aplate fitting loosely between the upper ends of the said inner walls andhaving a sand seal to close the top of the furnace, outlets in the upperends of the said end plates for the products of combustion from thehearths, and a pair of outer walls extending between the said end platesand converging inwardly and up wardly towards the inner heating walls toform air passages diminishing in cross section from their lower to theirupper ends, into the wider lower ends of which passages air to be heatedenters.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name this 28th day of October,1927.

VIVIAN ELKlNGTON.

